Cabinet split emerges ahead of new plan for Lords reform

The cabinet is divided over details of the latest plans to reform the House of Lords, it became clear yesterday.

Jack Straw, leader of the Commons, won colleagues' praise for the way he has collated his proposals, including a reduction in the number of peers from 750 and the eventual withering away of the voting rights of hereditary peers. Mr Straw said the proposals would probably be published next week.

Cabinet colleagues all support moves to go ahead with the white paper, but they are divided on the issue of how many elected members should be in the reformed chamber and will split when MPs are given a free vote on the issue, probably before Easter. Mr Straw supports a 50-50 split between elected and non-elected peers in the reformed Lords.

Among those who spoke in cabinet yesterday, Hilary Benn, international development secretary, supported 80% elected and the remainder nominated, as did Lady Amos, leader of the Lords. Another contributor, Patricia Hewitt, health secretary, favours 100% elected.

But John Prescott, deputy prime minister, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett and Lord Grocott, chief whip in the Lords, spoke for no or little change. Though they did not speak yesterday, education secretary Alan Johnson backs a 50/50 split, David Miliband, environment secretary, wants an 80% elected element, and Peter Hain, Northern Ireland secretary, supports 100% elected, as does trade secretary Alistair Darling.

Mr Straw wants MPs to agree to a special voting arrangement, based on the alternative vote system, where MPs will rank their preference for up to seven different options for reform, ranging from an all elected chamber, to half and half, to all appointed.

If MPs agree to use that system it will at least deliver the will of the Commons, unlike the last attempt at Lords reform, in 2003, which ended with MPs rejecting all seven proposals.

But MPs on all sides of the argument said yesterday that they believed the appetite for reform was, if anything, weaker in this parliament than it had been in the last one.

The Lords is in any case almost certain to vote against reform.

Labour MP Tony Wright, the constitutional affairs expert in favour of 60% elected, said: "It's difficult to judge. Poor Robin Cook [then leader of the Commons] thought he had judged the centre of gravity last time and got a bloody nose and I rather think the same thing may happen. It's almost impossible to get agreement."

Former Conservative chancellor Kenneth Clarke acknowledged that the 50-50 proposal could struggle. Lord Strathclyde, Conservative leader of the Lords, said his party would reject Mr Straw's proposals as it wanted at least 80% of members to be elected.